Gum Manufacturing System with Loafing and Conditioning Features

ABSTRACT

Gum manufacturing machinery and method of manufacturing gum is illustrated in which a gum loafing machine generates loaves of finished gum that are then subsequently run through a gum conditioner to more uniformly set the temperature and viscosity of the gum material prior to further processing. Upon achieving the appropriate conditioning level, a further forming extruder may be used to generate a continuous gum ribbon for subsequent rolling and scoring operations. The gum conditioner may include vertically stacked conveyors that have different operational modes including a first mode that provides a serpentine path for a long residence time and a second mode that provides a cascading path that avoids or bypasses much of the length of some of the conveyors to provide a shorter residence time. The gum manufacturing machinery may be used in an adjustable manner so as to accommodate difference gum recipes for different batches of gum product.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to gum manufacturing methods and systemsand more particularly relates to the forming and conditioning of gumproducts as a precursor to dividing the gum into individual slab, stickor pellet type units.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The process of making and packaging gum products involves a significantamount of machinery. For example, a substantially automated system andmethod for making slab/stick type gums, is shown in U.S. Pat. No.6,254,373 entitled Gum Processing and Packaging System, which isassigned to the predecessor of interest of the present assignee. Asshown in the '373 patent, a process and apparatus for the continuedproduction and processing and packaging of a final slab/stick typechewing gum is disclosed. The product is extruded as a continuous tapeor ribbon and is eventually flattened into an approximate finalcross-sectional size and shape and then inserted into a final gum sizingapparatus. Thereafter, the continuous strip of final chewing gum productis scored, cut into individual pieces and individually wrapped by astandard packaging machine. The present invention is directed towardsimprovements in the state of the art over such prior systems andequipment as shown in the '373 patent.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward improvements in theconditioning of chewing gum product to attempt to reach the optimaltemperature, viscosity, and moisture content for quality and processingreasons, particularly when rolling and/or scoring the chewing gumproduct in sheet form. Such uniformity better insures that the correctamount of gum is in each individual unit of gum and that the shape, sizeand consistency is substantially the same. Achieving such uniformity andhigh volume production with such automation are a significant advantagefor cost and quality reasons.

A first patent aspect of the present invention is directed toward gummanufacturing machinery comprising a gum loafing machine have an inletreceiving finished gum product and a forming die providing an outletproximate a knife that is adapted to generate loaves of finished gumproduct. A gum conditioner is arranged downstream of the gum loafingmachine that has a conveyor running through an environmental enclosurewith a temperature control. The conveyor is adapted to convey the loavesof finished gum through the environmental enclosure.

According to the above aspect, the conveyor of the gum conditioner mayinclude at least three conveyors arranged in a stacked verticalconfiguration with two different operational modes. In a firstoperational mode, the second conveyor runs in a first directionconveying loaves in a serpentine path over substantially the entirelength of the second and third conveyors. In a second operational mode,the second conveyor runs in a second direction opposite the firstdirection to convey loaves in a cascading path thereby substantiallybypassing the length of the second and third conveyors. As such, theresidence time of the conveyor can be greatly varied by utilizing moreor less of the overall gum conditioning conveyor length as may bedesired (speed controls and speed changes to the conveyors may beadditionally employed).

Another different feature which may be employed with the first aboveaspect is that the gum loafing machine may be employed to prepare agenerally uniform shape and thickness of the finished gum product tofacilitate more uniform conditioning and avoid the otherwise non-uniformand irregularly shaped thicknesses that may be output, for example froma gum mixing extruder that forms the finished gum product. The size ofthe loaves may be optimized for conditioning as opposed to a form thatis necessarily suitable for rolling operations. Further, after thefinished gum product is loafed and conditioned within the gumconditioner, a second forming extruder may be employed having a dieadapted to form a continuous ribbon from the individual loaves tofacilitate further downstream rolling of the sheet by rollers thatprogressively reduce a thickness of the continuous gum ribbon forsubsequent gum dividing operations. As such, conditioning may occur inone form, while rolling and scoring is accomplished in a different form.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed toward gummanufacturing machinery comprising a gum mixer (e.g. at least one of amixing extruder and a batch mixer) that receives a plurality of gumingredients and mixes the gum ingredients into a finished gum product. Afirst forming extruder is arranged downstream of the gum mixer andreceives the finished gum and forces the finished gum through a firstforming die to generate a substantially uniform output shapes sufficientfor conditioning. A gum conditioner is arranged downstream of the firstforming extruder and has a conveyor running through an environmentalenclosure with a temperature control. The conveyor is adapted to conveythe substantially uniform output through the environmental enclosure.Further, and after such conditioning, a second forming extruder isarranged downstream of the gum conditioner that has a second formingdie. The second forming extruder forces the finished gum through thesecond forming die to form a continuous gum ribbon. Rollers aresubsequently arranged downstream of the forming extruder toprogressively reduce a thickness of a the continuous gum ribbon forsubsequent gum diving operations.

A feature according to the above aspect is that a first forming extrudermay provide a discontinuous output such as separate loaves to facilitateconditioning whereas the second forming extruder produces the ribbon tofacilitate rolling operations.

A further aspect of the present invention is directed toward a method ofmanufacturing gum comprising of mixing a plurality of gum ingredientsinto a finished gum; forming the finished gum into a substantiallyuniform output shape; conditioning the formed finished gum in acontrolled temperature environment for a residence time; forming acontinuous gum ribbon; progressively reducing the thickness of thecontinuous gum ribbon; and dividing the gum ribbon into individualpieces of gum.

It is an advantage of this method and further feature that different gumbatch recipes for different finished gum products may be run through thesame gum line. For example, the method may further comprise running afirst gum mixture at a first predetermined residence time forconditioning in a controlled temperature environment; and running asecond gum mixture different than the first gum mixture using the samegum line as for the first gum mixture but at a second residence timedifferent than the first residence time for the first gum mixture. Thiscan be further facilitated by use of a conveyor having multiplevertically spaced conveyors with two different operational modes forgenerating a serpentine path and a cascading path as describedpreviously. Significantly different conditioning residence times maytherefore be employed for different gum batch recipes.

Other aspects, objectives and advantages of the invention will becomemore apparent from the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of thespecification illustrate several aspects of the present invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of gum manufacturingmachinery illustrating one operating mode with a cascading path ofloaves through a gum conditioner in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 1A shows a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment formixing gum that may be substituted for the mixing extruder shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1but illustrated in a different operational mode with loaves spending alonger residence time with a serpentine path through the gum conditioneras illustrated; and

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for handling andprocessing finished gum product in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

While the invention will be described in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit it to thoseembodiments. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives,modifications and equivalents as included within the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the FIGS. 1-2, gum manufacturing machinery generallyindicated at 10 for handling and processing finished gum product 12 isillustrated with, methodology of running through such machinerydiagramed in FIG. 3.

The gum manufacturing machinery 10 generally includes a gum mixer whichas illustrated in FIG. 1 may take the form of a gum mixing extruder 14;or alternatively as shown in FIG. 1A a batch mixer 16. Each of these maybe used to produce a finished gum product 12. For example as illustratedin FIG. 1, the gum mixing extruder 14 includes a plurality of gumingredient inputs 20 along its length for receipt of gum base and othergum ingredients such as flavorings, sugars, sweeteners, fillers, variousagents, and the like. These inputs 20 are arranged along the length of asingle mixing screw 22 having different screw mixing elements for inputand mixing at different stages during the mixing process. For example,gum mixing extruders or other gum mixers are disclosed for example inU.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 61/016,016; 61/036,626; and61/045,764, which are assigned to the present assignee, the disclosuresof which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. Theoutput from the gum mixing extruder 14 is a finished gum product 12 thatis readily suitable for consumption and chewing as it includes the watersoluble sweeteners and flavorings desired by the consumer as well as theunderlying chewable gum base to facilitate chewing. As illustrated, theoutput from a gum mixing extruder 14 may be generally irregular orotherwise non-uniform in shape in that it often will be output in anuneven stream of material having a non-uniform thickness of material.The same can be said of the output of a batch mixer 16 in that it isgenerally irregularly shaped without a consistent thickness. Thus, byproducing finished gum product 18, it may generate a non-uniform output24 as diagrammed in FIG. 3.

Given that the temperature of the finished gum product is not yetsuitable or optimal for rolling activities, and that the temperature mayneed to be cooled or otherwise adjusted to allow the material to setsufficiently, it can be appreciated that the non-uniform output 24 isnot conducive to generating uniform conditioning of the finished gumproduct. As such, a feed conveyor 26 feeds the uneven output 12 into aloafing machine 28 (also referred to herein as a loafing extruder) thatforms discrete loaves of finished gum product as in step 27 in FIG. 3.The loafing machine 28 may include a forming extruder 30 that forces thefinished gum product through a forming die, thereby forming a uniformextrusion 33 as in FIG. 3, that is periodically cut off into separateloaves 34 with finished gum product loaves being indicated at 36 inFIGS. 1-2. To facilitate the cutting operation 34, a knife 32 is usedthat periodically moves laterally across the forming die to cut andslice off individual loaves 36.

An output conveyor 38 picks up the loaves cut off from the formingextruder 30 and runs at a slightly faster pace so as to space theindividual loaves 36 at regular intervals as they are output from theforming extruder 30 and cut off by knife 32. The forming extruder 30includes only a single input and does not provide for input or mixing ofadditional ingredients into the finished gum product at this stage.Instead the loafing machine 28 and forming extruder 30 is merelyemployed to generate a relatively uniform and consistent thickness ofmaterial to facilitate more even conditioning of the finished gumproduct downstream.

As illustrated, the individual loaves 36 generally take the shape of theextruding die at the output of the forming extruder 30 and may haveseparate loaves integrally connected by thin webs that may be producedby teeth on the extruding die as illustrated. The loaves may have aslight parallelogram shape or be of slight shape variations in width andlength, but the thickness of the individual loaves 36 is preferablybetween about ½ and 2 inches thick (vertically) with the length andwidth being between about 6 inches and 18 inches. The length and widthdimensions are not as critical or important as it is the minimumthickness in one dimension that controls heat transfer. Thus, theminimum thickness dimension is of importance as this determines therelative residence time necessary for achieving sufficiently uniformviscosity and temperature for forming a thin ribbon to facilitatesubsequent rolling and scoring operations.

The output conveyor 38 feeds the individual loaves 36 into a gumconditioner 40 that conditions the loaves of finished gum product 42.More specifically, the gum conditioner 40 adjusts or otherwise conformsthe temperature of the finished gum product 12 and attempts to obtain asubstantially uniform temperature throughout. The gum conditioner 40 isarranged downstream of the gum loafing machine 28 for receiving theoutput thereof and includes three vertically stacked conveyors includinga top conveyor 44, an intermediate conveyor 46 and a bottom conveyor 48that are all substantially contained and run through an environmentalenclosure 50, such as a long enclosed tunnel. Each of the conveyers 44,46, 48 is contained in the environmental enclosure 50, such that the gumproduct carried thereon is subjected to the temperature and humiditycontrolled environment within the enclosure 50.

The gum conditioner 40 includes a temperature control, a humiditycontrol and a residence time control. The temperature and humiditycontrol can set and/or adjust the temperature and humidity within theenvironmental enclosure such that it may be different than that of theroom in which the machinery is contained. The residence time control isprovided with a wide degree of residence time variability in part due tospeed adjustment but also due to a unique aspect presented by thearrangement of three conveyors, 44, 46 and 48 and the operational modevariance as illustrated when comparing FIGS. 1 and 2. As a result, aresidence time can be predetermined and set and/or adjusted based uponthe gum batch recipe 52 as indicated in FIG. 3.

Typically, and depending upon the finished gum product, the raw outputof the gum mixing extruder 14 will generally produce a gum output havingan average temperature between 40 and 50° C. Within the environmentalenclosure 50 of the gum conditioner 40 a generally uniform temperatureis controlled to move the finished gum temperature to a substantiallyconsistent and desirable temperature. Specifically, the environmentalenclosure 50 may include a controlled temperature between 40° C. andabout 50° C.; and a humidity of between about 20 and about 40%.Typically the temperature and humidity will be set at predetermined setpoints within those ranges depending upon the gum recipe and batch thatis being run through the gum line at any particular instant.

As for the residence time, the embodiment provides for a wide controlpossibility in residence time based on speed control and operationalmode. In one embodiment, the residence time may be as fast as about twominutes and as slow as about 20 minutes to provide for a minimalresidence time or a very long residence time depending upon the gumbatch recipe to appropriately provide the gum in best condition forlater processing, such as rolling and scoring into sheets. Theconditioner preferably has a residence time control variance of at least10 minutes during operation thereof that is at least about 1 minute andless than about 30 minutes.

As can be seen in comparing FIGS. 1 and 2, the gum conditioner 40 hastwo different operational modes. As shown in FIG. 2, a first operationalmode is provided in which the loaves follow a serpentine pathsubstantially over the entire length of the intermediate and bottomconveyors, 46 and 48. By having to travel the entire length of the lowertwo conveyors, the residence time is increased by virtual of thedistance over which the finished gum product loaves must travel.However, if such a long residence time is not desired or needed, thedistance can be short circuited as shown in FIG. 1 where a secondoperational mode is provided in which the loaves substantially bypassthe length of the second and third conveyors. In this operational mode,the intermediate conveyor 46 runs in an opposite direction as that shownin FIG. 2 to prevent the loaves from reversing direction and instead theloaves cascade over the conveyors with a cascading path, thereby tosubstantially bypassing the length of the second and third conveyors. Asshown, the second intermediate conveyor 46 has a portion that overlapsthe top conveyor 44 to receive loaves that vertically drop down from thetop conveyor onto the intermediate conveyor and likewise the bottomconveyor 48 has ends that overlap both of the ends of the intermediateconveyor for receipt of loaves that drop down on either the front orback end of the intermediate conveyor depending upon which operationalmode is employed.

Depending upon the gum recipe batch being run on the gum line, uponexiting the gum conditioner, the finished gum loaves may have atemperature of between about 40 and 50° C. However, residence time isimportant and formula dependent to develop crystal structure and/orotherwise set up the firmness of the gum product, even if little or notemperature change occurs. At this point, the loaves are also set upenough with a sufficiently uniform viscosity to facilitate furtherprocessing such as rolling and scoring.

Accordingly at this point, a further conveyor 54 feeds the finished gumproduct loaves (at step 56 in FIG. 3) into a second downstream formingextruder 58. The forming extruder 58 includes a forming die that is thinand elongated such that it produces a continuous finished gum productribbon (at step 57 in FIG. 3) suitable for subsequent rolling andscoring operations. Specifically, the forming extruder 58 may includetwin screws that break up the loaves and force the loaves through anelongate and thin forming die to produce the ribbon 60.

Upon exiting the forming extruder 58, the continuous gum ribbon 60 maybe subject to a dusting operation 62 in which a duster 64 sprinklespowdered sweetener on the surface of the continuous gum ribbon 60 so asto prevent sticking and to facilitate better processing duringsubsequent rolling and scoring operations. It is understood that whilesuch dusting will add some component to the eventual packaged gum, a“finish gum product” is considered to be produced at the very first stepillustrated in the output of the gum mixing extruder 14 and the dustingat this point is primarily a processing aid adding only some additionalcomponent to the gum.

After passing through the duster 64, the gum ribbon 60 is processed andrun through a series of progressive rollers 66 that roll the continuousribbon sheet to a uniform reduced thickness 68. Once the gum ribbon 60is progressively rolled to the desired thickness, then a scoring roller70 may be employed as well as a lateral dividing roller 72. Theserollers 70, 72 score and divide the gum ribbon 60 into individual scoredsheets 74 as indicated at step 76 in FIG. 3.

From here, the scored sheets 74 are conveyed to a further gumconditioner 78 having a conveyor 80 and an environmental enclosure inthe form of a tunnel 82 to facilitate cooling of the individual scoredsheets to stiffen the gum material of the sheets sufficiently prior tostacking so as to maintain shape rather than allow material creep. Thegum conditioner 78 conditions individual sheets 84 sufficient tofacilitate stacking of sheets 86 where the sheets can be stacked andstored in a conditioning room 88. The stacked sheets are then stored inthe conditioning room 90 at a lengthy interval to fully condition thegum sheets and achieve a sufficiently cool temperature until such timethat the sheets are ready to be divided into individual gum pieces suchas stabs or sticks and then packaged as indicated in step 92 in FIG. 3.

All references, including publications, patent applications, and patentscited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent asif each reference were individually and specifically indicated to beincorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the invention (especially in the context of thefollowing claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and theplural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted bycontext. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing”are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, butnot limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of valuesherein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referringindividually to each separate value falling within the range, unlessotherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated intothe specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methodsdescribed herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwiseindicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The useof any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the inventionand does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unlessotherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construedas indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice ofthe invention.

Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, includingthe best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to thoseof ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Theinventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations asappropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practicedotherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, thisinvention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subjectmatter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicablelaw. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in allpossible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unlessotherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

1. Gum manufacturing machinery, comprising: a gum loafing machine havingan inlet receiving finished gum and a forming die providing an outletproximate a knife adapted to generate loaves of finished gum; a gumconditioner arranged downstream of the gum loafing machine, the gumconditioner having a conveyor running through an environmental enclosurehaving a temperature control, the conveyor adapted to convey the loavesof finished gum through the environmental enclosure.
 2. The gummanufacturing machinery of claim 1, wherein the environmental enclosurefurther includes a humidity control.
 3. The gum manufacturing machineryof claim 2, wherein the temperature control is between about 40° C. andabout 50° C.; and wherein the relative humidity control is between about20% and about 40%.
 4. The gum manufacturing machinery of claim 1,wherein the conditioner has a residence time control variance of atleast 10 minutes during operation thereof that is at least about 1minute and less than about 30 minutes.
 5. The gum manufacturingmachinery of claim 4, wherein the conveyor comprises at least threeconveyors in a vertical stacked configuration, including first, secondand third conveyors, the second conveyor interposed vertically betweenthe first and third conveyors, the second conveyor having a firstoperational mode with the second conveyor running in a first directionconveying loaves in a serpentine path over substantially the entirelength of the second and third conveyors; and having a secondoperational mode with the second conveyor running in a second directionopposite the first direction conveying loaves in a cascading paththereby substantially bypassing the length of the second and thirdconveyors.
 6. The gum manufacturing machinery of claim 1, wherein theloafing machine is a first forming extruder, further comprising: a gummixing extruder having a plurality of inlet ports for receiving gumingredients along a length thereof, the gum mixing extruder adapted toproduce finished gum in an uninterrupted output during operation, theuninterrupted output being fed into the gum loafing machine, wherein theloaves of the gum loafing machine are intermittently spaced; a secondforming extruder having a die adapted to form a continuous gum ribbon,the forming extruder arranged downstream of the gum conditioner forreceipt of the loaves; and rollers arranged downstream of the formingextruder adapted to progressively reduce a thickness of the continuousgum ribbon for subsequent gum dividing operations.
 7. The gummanufacturing machinery of claim 6, wherein the first forming extruderand the second forming extruder are twin screw extruders.
 8. Gummanufacturing machinery comprising: a gum mixer comprising at least oneof a mixing extruder and a batch mixer, the gum mixer receiving aplurality of gum ingredients and mixing the gum ingredients into afinished gum; a first forming extruder arranged downstream of the gummixer and receiving the finished gum and forcing the finished gumthrough a first forming die to generate a substantially uniform outputshape sufficient for conditioning; a gum conditioner arranged downstreamof the first forming extruder, the gum conditioner having a conveyorrunning through an environmental enclosure having a temperature control,the conveyor adapted conveying the substantially uniform output throughthe environmental enclosure; a second forming extruder arrangeddownstream of the gum conditioner, the second forming extruder having asecond forming die, the second forming extruder forcing the finished gumthrough the second forming die to form a continuous gum ribbon; androllers arranged downstream of the forming extruder adapted toprogressively reduce a thickness of the continuous gum ribbon forsubsequent gum dividing operations.
 9. The gum manufacturing machineryof claim 8, wherein the first forming extruder includes a knife adaptedto create the substantially uniform output as intermittently spacedloaves of finished gum, wherein a pickup conveyor transports theintermittently spaced loaves to the gum conditioner, the pickup conveyorrunning at a speed faster than the first forming extruder so as tointermittently space the loaves of finished gum as they are sliced fromthe first forming extruder.
 10. The gum manufacturing machinery of claim8, wherein the environmental enclosure further includes a humiditycontrol.
 11. The gum manufacturing machinery of claim 10, wherein thetemperature control is between about 40° C. and about 50° C.; andwherein the relative humidity control is between about 20% and about40%.
 12. The gum manufacturing machinery of claim 8, wherein theconditioner has a residence time control variance of at least 10 minutesduring operation thereof that is at least about 1 minute and less thanabout 30 minutes.
 13. The gum manufacturing machinery of claim 8,wherein the conveyor comprises at least three conveyors in a verticalstacked configuration, including first, second and third conveyors, thesecond conveyor interposed vertically between the first and thirdconveyors, the second conveyor having a first operational mode with thesecond conveyor running in a first direction conveying loaves in aserpentine path over substantially the entire length of the second andthird conveyors; and having a second operational mode with the secondconveyor running in a second direction opposite the first directionconveying loaves in a cascading path thereby substantially bypassing thelength of the second and third conveyors.
 14. The gum manufacturingmachinery of claim 9, wherein the intermittently shaped loaves have amaximum vertical thickness of between about 1 and about 3 inches; amaximum first span measured perpendicular to movement of the pickupconveyor of between about 6 and about 18 inches, and a maximum secondspan measured parallel to movement of the pickup conveyor of betweenabout 6 and about 18 inches.
 15. A method of manufacturing gum,comprising: mixing a plurality of gum ingredients into a finished gum;forming the finished gum into a substantially uniform output shape;conditioning the formed finished gum in a controlled temperatureenvironment for a residence time; forming a continuous gum ribbon;progressively reducing the thickness of the continuous gum ribbon; anddividing the gum ribbon into individual pieces of gum.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising: running a first gum mixture at a firstresidence time; running a second gum mixture different than the firstgum mixture using the same gum line as for the first gum mixture but ata second residence time different than said first residence time for thefirst gum mixture.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprisingconveying the formed finished gum through the controlled temperatureenvironment and utilizing more or less of the lengths of the conveyorstherein to control residence time and establish a residence time. 18.The method of claim 17, further comprising controlling the speed of theconveyors to provide a residence time variance in combination withselective use of conveyor lengths of at least 10 minutes variance. 19.The method of claim 15, wherein said forming the finished gum into asubstantially uniform output shape comprises bricking intermittentlyspaced loaves of finished gum having a vertical thickness of betweenabout 1 and about 3 inches.
 20. The method of claim 19, furthercomprising conveying the formed finished gum through the controlledtemperature environment along a plurality of vertically spacedconveyers, and running the intermittently spaced loaves along aserpentine path over substantially the entire length of the conveyors ina first mode to provide a longer residence time and running theintermittently spaced loaves along a cascading path thereby bypassing asubstantial portion of the length of the conveyors in a second mode toprovide a shorter residence time relative to the longer residence time.